Regrettably, some Christians today like to read the Bible with their mind. They read the Word but will not call on the Lord. As a result, they contact the Bible but not the Lord. Please remember that if you do not call on the Lord, the Scriptures will be merely letters and not spirit. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. If you read the Bible with your mind, every word and sentence of the Bible will kill you. Everyone who “researches” the Bible is deadened. You have to believe me. Before you researched the Bible, you might have been a little alive; but after you search and research, you become dead in your spirit, because this is the wrong way.
This is not to say you should not study the Bible. However, it is not the biblical doctrines that can edify you, save you, supply you, or be life to you. No! Only the Lord Himself can be your life, and only He can save you. For your difficulties you must touch the Lord Himself; for your lacks you must receive the Lord Himself. The words of the Bible are the means. In your reading you must call on the Lord with your spirit: “O Lord! In the beginning was the Word. O Lord! In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. O Lord! You created the heavens. O Lord! You created the earth.” Immediately you will see that the words of the Bible are living. As a result, what you gain is not a doctrine but a living Lord. This is what we need today.
Although many brothers and sisters have heard this teaching, the practice among us is not adequate. We are too accustomed to using our mind to understand the Scriptures, but we are not in the habit of using our spirit to call on the Lord and touch the Word simultaneously. We definitely have to build up this habit of calling on the Lord whenever we open the Bible. If we call on the Lord and pray while we read the Word, the words of the Bible will become alive. Then our darkness will be dissipated and our weakness will be turned to strength. The Lord will supply us within in many ways. This is the right way.
Sometimes you may not remember the verses you pray-read. But, praise the Lord, whether or not you remember them, by praying and reading the Word, exhaling and inhaling, you will receive the Lord into you. To remember the words of the Bible, you need to exercise your memory, but memorizing is not necessary for you to receive the Lord. As long as you breathe in the Lord, He will operate in you to water, enlighten, comfort, and support you; He will even carry out the work of transformation in you, not to correct you from without but to change you from within.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must learn to call on the Lord, and you also must learn to mingle your calling on the Lord with your pray-reading of the Word. If you practice these two ways every day, you will not need to listen to the teachings concerning holiness, victorious living, or life, but you surely will be holy, overcoming, and full of life. To be sure, your entire being will be saturated with the Lord. The Lord is really the true and living Spirit. He does not care whether you understand and comprehend the doctrines; He cares only to operate in you. For the Lord to operate in us, we must learn to call on the Lord until this becomes a natural habit in our living.
Now we come to the book of Acts. When Stephen was being persecuted and before being stoned to death, he was not praying but calling upon the Lord. He called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” (7:59). As a result, many saw that his face was shining like the face of an angel. Why? Because when he called, the Lord filled him within, and the Lord was expressed out from him.
Then Acts 22 tells us how Saul of Tarsus went from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest all those who called on the name of the Lord. On the way, however, after his encounter with the Lord, he repented. He was saved but no one knew about it. Therefore, the Lord Himself went to Ananias and told him to go see Saul. What did Ananias say to Saul? Verse 16 says, “Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.” Ananias did not say that to be baptized is to wash away sins; rather, he said that to call on His name is to wash away sins. In effect Ananias was telling Saul, “Saul, previously you committed sins for which the saints cannot forgive you; that is, you went everywhere to arrest those who called on the name of the Lord. You arrested anyone who called, ‘O Lord.’ You persecuted the church and opposed the saints. Now for you to wash away your sins, the best way is for you yourself to call on the Lord’s name. You also should call, ‘O Lord Jesus!’ When you call, your sins of murdering those who called on the Lord’s name will be washed away.”
Brothers and sisters, this shows us that in the first century all the proper Christians lived a life of calling on the Lord’s name. I do not doubt at all that they called on the Lord every day. They called on the Lord at home, and they called on the Lord while walking on the street. I hope that all of you also will build up such a practice.
In Los Angeles we more or less have a taste of this. At least three hundred of us live in the neighborhood surrounding meeting hall number one, so when we go out, we frequently run into some saints, especially when we go to the supermarkets. When we see one another, we call, “O Lord Jesus!” This one will call, “O Lord!” and the other will answer, “Amen!” Many are always calling, “O Lord Jesus!”, and they truly have the enjoyment of calling on the name of the Lord.
Let us apply this a little. For instance, when you are oppressed, you must call, “O Lord Jesus!” After calling upon the name of the Lord three to five times, you will not be oppressed anymore. Another example is that when you are void of light within and are not clear about what to do concerning a certain matter, you say, “O Lord! Amen!”, and you are enlightened within. Furthermore, when you are depressed, and you feel that you are being burdened beyond your strength, you should call, “O Lord! O Lord!” Your inner strength will then rise up from within you.
You may say, “Brother Lee, this is too simple.” I tell you, the more necessary a thing is for life, the simpler it is. For example, breathing, drinking, and eating are all very simple practices. Breathing in the Lord is as simple as breathing in the air. The way of the Lord is a simple way.
Life is simple. A seed of grain planted in the soil will grow to yield more grains; a flower seed buried in the ground will grow and blossom. It is very simple. You simply dig a hole in the ground, put the seed in, bury it, and water it, and then you go home and sleep in peace. After a while, it will sprout. It is very simple. We thank and praise the Lord that all the matters of life are simple.
O brothers and sisters, today we are in the last days. The Lord wants to recover the church back to the beginning. That which was in the beginning was so simple. There was a tree of life for man to eat. Today, due to man’s weakness and failure, the church has become degraded, but it was not so in the beginning. In the beginning it was all very simple. We thank and praise the Lord for this. We all have to learn to be simple. Today is not the age of doctrines but the age of the spirit. Today is the age of eating the Lord, drinking the Lord, and enjoying the Lord.